Kaaba
The Kaaba (Kaˤabat), Arabic: الكعبة, Persian: کعبه, or al-Kaˤabatu l-Musharrafat : الكعبة المشرًّفة, also al-Baytu l-ˤAtīq (Arabic: البيت العتيق ) and al-Baytu l-Ħarām "The Sacred House" (Arabic: البيت الحرام ), is a building located inside the mosque known as al-Masjidu l-Ħarām "The Sacred Mosque" in Mecca (Makka). The mosque was built around the original Kaaba.
The Kaaba is the holiest place in Islam. The qibla, the direction Muslims face during prayer, is the direction from any point to the Kaaba. Its exact co-ordinates are Latitude 21°25'19.31"N & Longitude 39°49'34.34"E
Physical attributes and location of the Kaaba
The Kaaba is a large masonry structure roughly the shape of a cube. (The name "Kaaba" comes from the Arabic word meaning cube). It is made of granite from the hills near Mecca. The most current dimensions for the structure are: 15 m high (49') with sides measuring 10.5 m (34') by 12 m (39'). [Petersen, Andrew. Dictionary of Islamic Architecture. London: Routledge, 1996. p.142.] It is covered by a black silk cloth decorated with gold-embroidered calligraphy. This cloth is known as the kiswah; it is replaced yearly. [1] [2]
The eastern cornerstone of the Kaaba contains the Black Stone or al-Ħajaru l-Aswad, which is generally thought to be a meteorite remnant.
Entrance to the inside of the Kaaba is gained through a door set 2.13 meters above the ground on the north-eastern wall of the Kaaba.
Inside the Kaaba, there is a marble floor. The interior walls are clad with marble half-way to the roof; tablets with Qur'anic inscriptions are inset in the marble. The top part of the walls is covered with a green cloth decorated with gold embroidered Qur'anic verses. Lamps hang from a cross beam; there is also a small table for incense burners. The building is otherwise empty. Caretakers perfume the marble cladding with scented oil, the same oil used to anoint the Black Stone outside.
The global coordinates of the Kaaba are 21°25′24″N 39°49′24″E / 21.42333°N 39.82333°E.
An analysis in Dec 2000 using a series of readings from a Garmin III+ handheld GPS gives the centre of the Kaaba to be N 021 25.355' E 039 49.573'. Muslims throughout the world face the Kaaba during prayers. For most places around the world, coordinates for Mecca suffice. However, in the Sacred Mosque, worshippers pray in concentric circles radiating outwards around the Kaaba. Therefore, the focus point is in the middle of the Kaaba. As you cannot take a GPS reading from on top or inside the Kaaba, an estimate must be made from various positions around the Kaaba.
The cleaning of the Kaaba
The building is opened twice a year for a ceremony known as "the cleaning of the Kaaba."
This ceremony takes place roughly fifteen days before the start of Ramadan and the same period of time before the start of the annual pilgrimage.
The keys to the Kaaba are held by the Banī Shaybat (بني شيبة) tribe. Members of the tribe greet visitors to the inside of the Kaaba on the occasion of the cleaning ceremony. A small number of dignitaries and foreign diplomats are invited to participate in the ceremony. The governor of Mecca leads the honored guests who ritually clean the structure, using simple brooms.
History of the Kaaba
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According to Islamic tradition, God ordained a place of worship on Earth to reflect the house in heaven called al-Baytu l-Maˤmur (Arabic: البيت المعمور ). Muslims believe that Adam was the first to build such a place of worship.
According to the Qur'an, the Kaaba was built by the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) and his son Ismail (Ishmael [3]).
At the time of Muhammad, his tribe, the Quraysh, was in charge of the Kaaba, which was at that time a shrine to numerous Arabian tribal gods. Desert tribesmen, the Bedouin, and inhabitants of other cities would join the annual pilgrimage, to worship and to trade. Caravan-raiding, common during the rest of the year, was suspended during the pilgrimage; this was a good time, then, for travel and trade.
The Qur'an describes Mecca as a barren wadi (Arabic: واد غير ذي زرع) where life is tough and resources scarce. Indeed, there is no evidence that Mecca was anything but a center of local trade and worship (see Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam, Patricia Crone, Blackwell, 1987).
The prophet Muhammad, preaching the doctrine of monotheism and the promise of the Day of Judgment, faced mounting opposition in the city of Mecca. The Quraysh persecuted and harassed him continuously, and he and his followers eventually migrated to Medina in 622 CE. After this pivotal migration, or Hijra, the Muslim community became a political and military force. In 630 CE, Muhammad and his followers returned to Mecca as conquerors and the Kaaba was re-dedicated as an Islamic house of worship. Henceforth, the annual pilgrimage was to be a Muslim rite, the Hajj.
Reconstructions of the Kaaba
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According to some counts, the Kaaba has been reconstructed or undergone major repairs twelve times. The last reconstruction was done in 1996.
The Qibla and prayer
The Qibla, for any point of reference on the Earth, is the direction to the Kaaba. In Muslim religious practice, supplicants must face this direction at prayer.
Muslims do not worship the Kaaba; the Kaaba is simply a focal point for prayer.
The Qibla points along the shortest path to the Kaaba. Because the Earth is approximately spherical, this path will be part of a great circle such as aircraft fly. The location of the Kaaba (at 21°25′24″N 39°49′24″E / 21.42333°N 39.82333°E) can be used together with spherical geometry to determine the Qibla for any given point on the Earth.